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New Starbucks Drinks Are Causing ‘Digestive Issues’

Author Phil Harris
A Starbucks cup is seen discarded on a newspaper rack in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

As highly-devoted coffee drinkers, Mel and I have been curious to try this new coffee trend we had been hearing about. Earlier this year in Milan, Italy, Starbucks started serving coffee drinks infused with a spoonful of Partanna cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil. They got rave reviews from customers over there so Starbucks decided to bring them to America. The company introduced the “Oleato” at nearly 600 stores in the Seattle and Los Angeles metros. It’s not going well.

I don’t know if it’s a difference in the digestive constitution of Italians versus Americans, but the olive oil-infused coffee drinks have not been sitting well with U.S. customers. Literally. According to CNBC, a number of customers have complained of stomach discomfort after drinking the Oleato drinks, which led to spending a lot of time on the toilet.

What could be causing this increased need for the bathroom? Reddit user Rainpours44 writes, “Caffeine is a stimulant for your bowels and oil a relaxant. So yeah — wonderful idea by Starbucks.” Another Redditor says half of her office “ended up needing to use the restroom” after trying the new drinks. The words “legit laxative” have appeared on Twitter. Starbucks officials have not yet commented on the reports.

Is it just a coincidence that Oleato sounds a lot like Olestra? In case you’ve forgotten, Olestra was a synthetic fat substitute invented by Proctor & Gamble that added no calories to food. It was used in such now-discontinued products as WOW chips, Lay’s Light chips, and Pringles Light potato crisps. The idea was that it would help people lose weight, which it may have due to its side effects. The FDA-mandated health warning label read “This Product Contains Olestra. Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools.” And that’s why you don’t see Olestra anymore.

Phil Harris is 50% of "Phil & Mel in the Afternoon" on K104.7. He has been with the station since 2013 and on the air in Charlotte since 2000. Before coming to the Queen City, Phil worked for radio stations in Pittsburgh, Austin, and Seattle. In addition to the weekly "Throwback Threesome" music video feature, Phil writes about things that matter to Charlotte sports fans and pet owners. He happens to be both.

McDonald’s Looking To Replace Plastic Straws With 'Sippy Cup' Drink Lids

Plastic straws may soon become a thing of the past at the Golden Arches. According to Restaurant Business, McDonald’s is testing strawless lids in select U.S. markets, including Minneapolis. The lids come with a pullback tab that keeps the top closed for transport and exposes a half-moon opening for drinking when pulled. The benefits allegedly include easy sipping and no spillage. They’ve also been compared to children’s sippy cups.

McDonald’s actually started phasing out plastic straws in favor of paper ones for environmental reasons back in 2018. That has not gone so well. Customers in the UK complained that the paper straws aren’t user-friendly. Furthermore, the paper straws were not recyclable even though they were supposed to save the planet. Ironically, the plastic ones are.

Eliminating single-use plastics is still a good idea because so much of them end up in the oceans. At the end of 2020, McDonald’s said 25% of restaurants in its 30 largest markets offered customers recycled packaging. The company has pledged to recycle food and beverage packaging in 100% of its restaurants by the end of 2025. This test of the strawless lids alone is expected to reduce 400 metric tons of plastic waste per year, even though the lids themselves are made of plastic.

This plan could work. McDonald’s has seen successful pilots of strawless lids in other countries, including China. In 2018, Starbucks made a commitment to ban plastic straws in its stores worldwide by 2020. The coffee chain followed through by introducing its own strawless recyclable lids across the U.S. and Canada.

Reviews of the strawless lids have been mixed. Today shared some tweets from McDonald’s customers:

  • It's a sippy cup!

  • Does it affect the taste?

  • Slight overreaction...

  • Save the turtles!

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